At least someone asked her. I will never forget the time I stood at a gun counter with a fat wad of Ben Franklins burning a hole in my pocket, just waiting for someone to stop talking about bass fishing long enough to sell me a Kimber CDP. I never got helped, and they never got the money.

Ladies;It's not a totally gender-based problem. Age(or apparent lack thereof) is sometimes a contributing factor.Back when I still had hair, I went into a local chain sporting goods emporium, now since gone from my little corner of the world, and asked the elderly sales person(about the age I am now) for a #11 shell holder. He handed me a #11R.One was for the priming tool, the other was for the press. When I politely said it wasn't what I wanted, the sales guy sort of chuckled and said "well, son, that's what you asked for." It wasn't. I thanked him and left without buying anything. Nowdays, I might politely inform the gent that I wasn't his son, and I resented the familiarity.

I can barely believe that in The Lightbringer's Age that people are still so condescending;)

I mean, if he felt the need to confirm the choice, howzabout, "Sure, ma'am! It's right over here! So, you shooting a (1911, Glock, etc.) because we also have (insert accessory here) for those..." and let the conversation develop from there.

Geez.

I vowed never to spend a dime at a local gunstore after an exchange with a commando who refused to show me an AR-15 until I told him exactly what I was going to be shooting at and how.

He still refused when I told him that I had a great deal of money to spend and I wanted a 16" AR.

To be fair, I read numerous stories online about people having reliability problems when it comes to running .45GAP through their .45ACP pistol, so the salesperson could be trying to make sure that's what is needed.

Still, though, it would be pretty darn rare for somebody asking for ACP to need GAP or LC. I'd think it would usually be the other way around, so it really isn't that much of an excuse. Besides, the tone counts for a lot on this, and I wasn't there.

If someone asked me for ".45", I would generally ask "ACP? Colt?..." for clarification while my hand hovered in the general area of the calibers. If they looked even a little confused or hesitant, I'd ask "What gun is it for?" (And I kept ACP on one shelf and GAP and Colt on the next down so as to avoid mixups on the part of the sales staff)

Even without tonalities, however, the guy's response of "Are you sure that's what you're supposed to get?" is %$^&ing moronic on two different levels:

1) The idiot is assuming she has been sent to get ammo. Presumably by menfolk.

2) His question doesn't clarify anything for him either. Suppose she said "Yes, it's for a .45 Glock" and really was buying it for someone else and the clerk handed her a box of ACP to take home for a Glock 37. Epic Fail.

The clerk was a tool. I'd have chewed him a new asshole if he'd been working for me.

Someday I'd like to see you address the question of why, when a woman complains of truly obnoxious and obvious sexist treatment in a gun shop, so many otherwise nice guys are so darn quick to jump in with comments implying that 1) it wasn't sexism, and 2) she's being hypersensitive -- when these guys weren't even there!

"How about the other side of that coin, with a similar axxhole asking for, "a box of .300 Magnum?""

Oh, been there!

What's best is when they leave in a huff, loudly proclaiming you to be an idiot for having had the temerity to ask "Winchester or Weatherby?" (Since you assumed they didn't mean anything 'Short', 'Ultra', or 'Holland & Holland'...)

If you're being ignored, it's probably your B.O. ... that or the sales staff is a bunch of fricken' incompetents. (Incidentally, during the Kimber CDP episode I ref'ed, plenty of other folk got helped before I decided to leave. Coincidentally, they were all pointers and not setters.)

If you're being condescended to before you open your mouth, it may be because you are a member of a demographic that Cletus thinks isn't as knowledgeable about guns as he is.

If you're being condescended to after you open your mouth, it might just be because you're a retard with the social skills of Napolean Dynamite.

Well, this is certainly a helpful thread for the eve before I set out with a scribbled post-it to buy my very first non-22 ammo!

Given that I shall look hesitant, out of place, consulting a post-it hurriedly scribbled on lunch break, and have the bonus points of being a cute, injured (lame), well-dressed female, I'll start the bets now on how much condescension I'll rack up!

I'm especially hesitant since I like specifics when dealing with unknown. All the owner of the Sten and the Uzi would give me for guidance was a big grin and "9mm anything. As for how much you ought to bring to shoot - as much as you can carry!"

The range I go to most often are knights to my wife. Her very first time out with her spiffy new S&W 640-3 was all on her own. I had to stay home and mind the youngin'.

This is her first revolver to boot.

My recommendation to her was to get a box of everything they had in .38 special and .357 magnum and see what she and the gun liked best.

When she asked for that, the counter guy said, "New gun, huh?" and sold her about ten boxes of ammo.

We've since looked around at the other female type shooters and customers there. As far as we can tell, my wife is the only girl who goes there alone. I think the staff really digs the novelty of a woman who is there to learn and doesn't contradict them with, "But [insert big strong man here] says..."